Ticketmaster is the largest ticket sales and distribution company in the United States, selling tickets for concerts, sports games, theater shows, and other live events. There has been some speculation and accusations over the years that Ticketmaster uses exclusive deals with venues to maintain its dominant position in the industry.
Ticketmaster’s Market Position
Ticketmaster sells tickets through its website, mobile apps, and retail outlets for over 500,000 events each year. According to some estimates, Ticketmaster sells around 70% of primary market tickets for major concerts and events in the US and has ticket sales revenue exceeding $10 billion annually.
Part of the reason for Ticketmaster’s leading market share is that they have exclusive ticketing agreements or relationships with many major venues and promoters. Ticketmaster serves as the official and exclusive ticketing service for hundreds of venues, festivals, arts organizations, and sports leagues.
Anti-Competitive Concerns
Ticketmaster’s dominant position in the ticketing industry has led to anti-competitive concerns over the years. Specifically, some critics argue that Ticketmaster unfairly blocks competitors and makes it very difficult for other ticketing companies to expand their reach due to their exclusive venue deals.
For example, upstart ticketing companies like AEG and Eventbrite claim they are locked out from selling tickets to popular concerts and shows because of Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts. This lack of competition allows Ticketmaster to charge higher fees and commissions without the pressure of competitors offering lower prices.
Notable Exclusive Agreements
Here are some examples of major exclusive venue and promoter agreements that Ticketmaster has secured over the years:
- Live Nation – When Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, Ticketmaster gained exclusivity at all Live Nation owned or operated venues and festivals. Live Nation promotes around 30,000 events annually.
- AEG – Ticketmaster has had a deal with AEG since 2002 granting them exclusive ticketing rights at venues owned by AEG like the Staples Center and Coachella festival.
- NFL – Ticketmaster is the exclusive ticket provider for the NFL and handles all ticketing for regular season, playoff, and Super Bowl games.
- NBA – Ticketmaster has been the exclusive ticketing outlet for the NBA since 2006 after outbidding competitors for the rights.
- MLB – Ticketmaster signed a 5-year deal with Major League Baseball in 2013 to be the official ticketing partner. This grants them exclusivity over MLB game ticket sales.
In addition to major venues and leagues, Ticketmaster also has exclusive ticketing agreements with hundreds of minor league sports teams, theaters, music festivals, and concert promoters.
Government Scrutiny of Exclusive Deals
Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts have faced antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. government on several occasions:
- In the mid-90s, the U.S. Justice Department investigated several of Ticketmaster’s exclusive deals but ultimately did not file any enforcement action.
- In 2009, before the Live Nation merger, Congressional hearings were held questioning if the merger would threaten competition. However, the merger still went through after some divestments.
- In 2018, the U.S. Justice Department launched a new investigation into whether Live Nation was abusing its power. Concerns focused again on their bundled exclusive deals with venues.
Despite the investigations, the government has so far allowed most of Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts to stand. They have only required minor concessions, such as divesting some venues or allowing competitors limited access to sell some tickets to events.
Venue and Artist Perspectives
Many venues and artists continue partnering with Ticketmaster for their ticketing needs despite the exclusive deals. There are some benefits that Ticketmaster offers, including:
- Broader distribution network – Ticketmaster has invested heavily in technology and infrastructure to reach the most buyers. Many venues simply do not have the capability to handle ticketing logistics and sales on their own at a large scale.
- Analytics data – Venues and promoters rely on Ticketmaster for detailed data and analytics on ticket sales, customers, promotions, and more that helps them maximize revenues.
- Convenience factor – For many big venues, it is simpler and easier to have one dominant ticketing company handle all shows rather than integrating with different ones.
- Consumer preference – Since Ticketmaster has such a large share of ticketing, many consumers prefer using its platform over competitors since it consolidates more events.
While some venues partner with Ticketmaster willingly, critics argue many venues and teams do so reluctantly because they have no other viable option to efficiently handle ticketing logistics. Some bands and artists have complained about Ticketmaster fees eating into revenues, but still use them due to a lack of widespread alternatives.
Alternatives for Fans
For fans dismayed by Ticketmaster’s fees and dominance, there are some ticketing alternatives to explore:
- Buy directly from the box office – Many venues will sell tickets directly to avoid fees, but with less convenience and purchasing options.
- Fan-to-fan exchanges – Sites like Stubhub allow fans to resell tickets to each other.
- Eventbrite – For smaller venues and independent concerts, Eventbrite handles ticketing.
- AEG/AXS – For events at AEG-owned venues, AXS ticketing is an option.
- Local/regional ticketing companies – Some cities have independent ticketing companies with a local/regional presence.
However, these alternatives have limited availability compared to the breadth of Ticketmaster’s inventory. And Ticketmaster has been accused of making it very difficult for competitors to grow more widespread.
Ticketmaster’s Defense
Ticketmaster defends its exclusive agreements as fair business practices that venues willingly enter into in exchange for the company providing world-class ticketing services.
They argue their scale and capabilities are so far beyond competitors that venues naturally want to partner exclusively with Ticketmaster. They claim they earn partnerships through innovation and client service, not anticompetitive behavior.
Ticketmaster also notes that fans have many alternative ways to purchase tickets, even for events where Ticketmaster handles primary sales. This includes fan-to-fan exchanges, official fan club presales, box office sales, and groups like AEG. So there are still competitive forces.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster undoubtedly relies heavily on exclusive ticketing agreements with venues, promoters, sports leagues, and other events in order to maintain its dominant position in the industry. These exclusive deals are controversial and have undergone antitrust scrutiny, but so far the government has allowed most of them to stand.
There are reasonable arguments on both sides – critics claim the deals unfairly stifle competition, while Ticketmaster defends them as above board business agreements that clients willingly opt into. There are also reasons venues continue choosing to partner with Ticketmaster, even if reluctantly in some cases.
While fans lament the lack of choices and high fees, Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts seem poised to continue governing much of the live events ticketing landscape for the foreseeable future.